Amber Pacific â€“ The Possibility and the Promise (CD)

Amber Pacific had the best EP to come out last year, and they start off where they ended with â€œFading Daysâ€. The first track on â€œThe Possibility and the Promiseâ€, â€œEverything We Were…â€ looks to a harder set of bands, including Samhain and AFI for its influence, while still maintaining the pop sound that worked so well for them last year. It only takes the space of three minutes to come up with the first masterful track to come to a listenerâ€™s attention, being the perfect blend of pop and rock that is â€œPoetically Patheticâ€. During my review of â€œFading Daysâ€ , I said to â€œExpect Amber Pacific to be the new buzzword of late 2004 and 2005, maybe even crossing over to a larger degree than Yellowcard did last yearâ€, and this expectation pans out completely, with Amber Pacific making one of the most solid emo albums of this early year. What is impressive about â€œThe Possibility and the Promiseâ€ is the fact that Amber Pacific can go out and incorporate differing elements from punk and rock and so completely incorporate them into their emo framework and never fail to hide the seams.

Tracks like â€œFor What Itâ€™s Worthâ€ take to heart precursor bands like The Ataris while stile holding to the same virtuosic guitars and distinctive (Matt) vocals that are such a hallmark throughout all of Amber Pacificâ€™s music. Martinâ€™s mastering puts together a very rich tapestry for Amber Pacific, and the result is present in tracks like â€œThe Right To Write Me Offâ€ which couples incredibly drumming by Dango with a multi-part harmony to what may be as perfect of a track as anything put to music by Michael Jackson or Billy Joel.

The disc does not tail off during the later tracks on â€œThe Possibility and the Promiseâ€; rather, tracks like â€œFalling Awayâ€ provide as much emotional investment as the earliest strains of the disc. â€œAlways Youâ€, a holdover from the EP is not out of its element during this disc; while the decision to put it at such a late position seems to be odd, the tracks on the rest of the disc are just as good as what was arguably the best track on the EP. The logical leadout to the disc, â€œIf I Fallâ€ is an exercise in melodrama that at no time borders on the line of self-parody. Amber Pacific, unlike many of their contemporaries, been able to succeed with a full-length after an EP took the world by storm.